Chefs in Maine treat hummus with respect

The hummus at the new Slab restaurant in Portland is inspired by Sicilian street food and is crafted in a multi-step process. Avery Kamila photo

Let’s face it. Vegetarians eat a lot of hummus.

It’s the plant-based option of choice at sandwich shops and house parties. Hummus pops up at supermarkets, farmers markets and sports stadiums. Convenience stores even sell it in single-serve packages.

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At restaurants in Portland and Camden, the vegetarian staple is reimagined.

CAMDEN BAGEL CAFE HUMMUS

Chef Mark Senders uses baking soda during soaking to help the beans absorb water more easily. This recipe makes a thick hummus, which can be made creamier by adding more olive oil.

Makes approximately 6 cups.

2½ cups dried chickpeas

6 cloves garlic, divided use

2 tablespoons herbs de Provence

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 bay leaf

½ teaspoon freshly ground coriander

½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

1 tablespoon baking soda

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus oil to coat the pan

1 cup roughly chopped onion

1 cup roughly chopped celery

1 cup roughly chopped carrot

3 tablespoons tahini paste

1 lemon, juiced

1 orange, juiced

Salt

Mix the chickpeas, 5 garlic cloves, herbs de Provence, crushed red pepper, bay leaf, coriander, white pepper and baking soda together in a stock pot and fill the pot with water until there is about an inch of water above the beans. Cover the pot and soak the beans overnight at room temperature.

After the beans have soaked, heat a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat and add olive oil to coat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the onions, celery and carrots (French cooks call this mixture mirepoix). Cook the mirepoix, stirring, until the vegetables become really tender.

Add the soaked beans, seasonings and soaking water to the pot with the cooked vegetables. If needed, add more water so the beans are covered.

Bring the pot to boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat and place a slightly askew lid on the pot, allowing steam to escape. Cook the beans for an hour or two, until tender. (The time can vary significantly, depending on the age of the beans.) Add salt to taste and remove from heat. Allow beans and vegetables to cool.

Transfer the cooled mixture to a food processor. Add the remaining 1 clove garlic, tahini and citrus juices to the processor. Add the 2 tablespoons olive oil. Blend. Add more oil and scrape down the sides as needed until you achieve the consistency you want.

Yet, too often this traditional Middle Eastern chickpea spread is unremarkable and forgettable.

As far as I can tell, much of the blame for ho-hum hummus comes from the fact that too little of it is made from scratch and too much of it is trucked in from out-of-state food processing plants.

At its most basic, hummus is a blend of cooked chickpeas, tahini (sesame seed paste), lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and spices. But hummus makers have long tinkered with the ingredient list. Recently U.S. hummus giant Sabra filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration asking it to define hummus as spread made with chickpeas and tahini. It’s a move intended to force competitors to switch to something other than the hummus moniker for dips made with such non-traditional legumes as black beans, edamame or lentils.

“Hummus is ubiquitous. You find it everywhere,” said chef and baker Stephen Lanzalotta. “But it’s almost always the same everywhere.”

But not at Slab, the restaurant Lanzalotta and a group of partners opened in June in the former Portland Public Market building in downtown Portland. There, hummus tops the menu and is carefully crafted in a multi-step process that involves making both a more traditional, smooth, lemony hummus and a chunky, spicy, chickpea hummus and then combining the two.

Like all the dishes on Slab’s vegetarian- and vegan-friendly menu, the hummus (or rather the ceci alla sicilia) is inspired by Sicilian street food.

Lanzalotta said his goal is to take familiar foods and deepen and enhance their flavors.

“I want to expand people’s mind about what Italian cuisine can be,” said Lanzalotta.

At the long-running Camden Bagel Cafe in its namesake village, new chef/owner Mark Senders is also upgrading the hummus. The process began when he discovered he’d have to reinvent the establishment’s hummus recipe after he bought the business this past spring.

“I couldn’t find a recipe for the hummus anywhere,” said Senders, who trained at the New England Culinary Institute and most recently worked at Shepherd’s Pie in Rockport.

The birth of his first child a year and a half ago prompted him to move from fine dining – where late nights and long hours make parenting difficult– into the more relaxed world of breakfast and lunch.

His only clue to the cafe’s previous hummus recipe came from the canned chickpeas he found on the shelf. He donated the beans to a local food pantry and got to work creating a recipe.

These days, Senders soaks dry chickpeas with garlic and spices before cooking the beans in the soaking water. He sweats a classic French mirepoix of onions, carrots and celery and mixes it with the beans and tahini.

Senders further seasons his hummus with herbs de Provence and orange juice.

The hummus at Slab is also thick (billed as “rustic” on the menu) and flavored with an unusual seasoning combination, featuring whole smashed oranges (including the rinds) and sage fried with cinnamon and turmeric.

Lanzalotta roasts sesame seeds so he can make his own tahini.

“We try to do everything the old way,” Lanzalotta said.

Senders said it’s worth the extra effort to make hummus from scratch because “it’s a popular item” and pairs well with the cafe’s bagels.

At Slab, Lanzalotta said featuring chickpeas on the menu was a must, since the beans are “an essential Sicilian food.”

Whatever their reasons, when chefs take the simple chickpea seriously, their efforts can yield unforgettable results. We vegetarians thank you from the bottom of our hummus-soaked hearts – and bellies.

Avery Yale Kamila is a freelance food writer, who lives in Portland. She can be contacted at:

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